The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 15: Mother of God

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

You know the Mother of God. Fr. Mark-Mary contemplates this amazing gift, drawing from Biblical examples of the special relationship between mothers and children that is present in Mary’s relationship to Jesus. We meditate on the Rosary as a personal conversation with the mother of God, making it an incredible intercessory prayer. Today’s focus is “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” and we will be praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hi, I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 15. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit essentialpress.com forward slash rosary in the Year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to preach month. It's a great way to track your progress.

The best place to listen to this podcast in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in the Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to compliment this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from scripture, Saint reflections and beautiful full page images of the sacred arts we'll be reflecting on.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. I'd like to root our reflection here in the Old Testament. We'll take a look at 1 Kings, so this is chapter two verses 19 and 20. Here's what it says. So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah.

And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother. And she sat on his right. Then she said, I have one small request to make of you, do not refuse me. And the king said to her, make your request, my mother, for I will not refuse you.

So much in the supernatural order is going to be a reflection and a perfection of what we find in the natural order. In the natural order, so much depends on who you know, and then who they know, who you are to them, and whoever that other person is that they knows is to them, if you're tracking them. Okay, so in the reading, who do we have?

We have Adonijah, and who does Adonijah know? Adonijah knows Bathsheba. Who does Bathsheba know? She knows King Solomon. All right, so what's the relationship? Well, obviously there's some sort of soft spot in the heart of Bathsheba for who does Bathsheba know? She knows King Solomon. All right, so what's the relationship? Well, obviously there's some sort of soft spot in the heart of Bathsheba, Fred and Aisha. So she receives him, she receives his request

and then she brings it to King Solomon. And it says that King Solomon, when Bathsheba approaches, right, he like stands up, he arises, he bows in honor, he has a seat placed. Like what is Bathsheba's relationship to King Solomon? Well, she's his mother. And obviously, like, there's this reverence, a love, a respect that the king has for his mother. And so then what happens? The queen says, I have a request for you. And without even knowing the request, the king says, like, of course I will grant it. And therefore, because

Adonijah knew the mother of the king, his request was granted. My brothers and sisters, I believe this happens as well. And it's perfected in the spiritual order. Like, who do you know? You know, Holy Mary. And who does Holy Mary know? Well, she knows Jesus.

And what are the different relationships at play? Well, like Mary loves us. She's our mother. And then who is her? Like what's her relationship to Jesus? She is his mother. Holy Mary, mother of God. All right, let's go ahead and just kind of root this now

in something a little bit more modern. Pretend you're living in a neighborhood. On your left, you got Vito. Across the street, you got Dr. Elizabeth and her family. And then to your right, you got Miss Janet, who your kids call Grandma Janet. Now Vito, Vito owns a pizza place. So one day you're down there at the pizza place

and you're eating a slice of pepperoni and you gotta go to the bathroom. And you see that on the bathroom door, it says employees only. So you go to Vito and like, hey Vito, hey man, I realize it says employees only, I gotta use the bathroom. What do you think? Would I be able to use the bathroom real quick? And Vito's like, hey Vito, hey man, I realize it says, you know, employees only, I gotta use the bathroom. What do you think? Would I be able to use the bathroom real quick?

And Vito's like, come on, come on, we're family. Of course, go ahead. Right? That makes sense. You know Vito, you know the owner. And so like it's the employee's only bathroom, but he's going to say, yeah. And then to the other side of the house,

you got grandma Janet and grandma Janet, her son is the executive of a board of a foundation. And so, you know, you have this charity that you're trying to help out and trying to raise some money for to, you know, feed children. And so you go to your neighbor, Ms. Janet, Grandma Janet, and you say,

hey, you know, Ms. Janet, I'm trying to sort of raise some money with this work for the homeless and the poor and children. Like, do you think you could talk to your son for me? She said, yeah, of course, come on, your family too. And so she goes to her son because of this relationship between son and mother,

the son listens to her and you get the grant for the poor, for the work that you're trying to do, right? All of this stuff makes sense. It happens all the time. My brothers and sisters, this is reflected and perfected in the spiritual order with the Blessed Mother. Who do you know? You know Holy Mary. And who are you to Holy Mary? You are beloved children, sons and daughters. She loves you, she cares for you. Who does Mary know? Of course, our Lady Mary,

she knows Jesus. And what is their relationship? Well, we have it in the prayer, Mother of God. Like Mary is the Mother of God. And so when we bring our intercessions, when we bring our needs and intentions to Mary, asking her to take them to God, like we have this confidence that they will be taken care of, that our prayers will be answered. We see this reflected in Scripture, particularly at the wedding feast of Cana, where Mary sees that they're running out of wine. So what does she do? Like as mother who loves those at the wedding feast,

she goes to Jesus, makes the request. And Jesus, if you will, like King Solomon to Bathsheba, Jesus is obedient. He listens to his mother. And this continues in heaven. And so as we conclude the Hail Mary praying, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death,

what we're entrusting to our lady who loves us, what we're entrusting to her is like all of our needs, all of our spiritual needs at this moment that we may persevere faithfully in grace today, but also in the ultimate, in the final moments, the moment of our spiritual needs at this moment, that we may persevere faithfully in grace today, but also in the ultimate, in the final moments, the moment of our death. We bring this to Mary, we bring it to her with confidence that she brings them to her son, to our Lord, they will be answered. And so my brothers and sisters, we just today reflect again upon the great gift it is that we have access to Mary,

that she is given to us as a mother who loves us. But also we recognize her particular place in the spiritual order, that she is the mother of Jesus, that she is the mother of God, that she is the queen of heaven and earth, and that Jesus and her have this particular relationship. And so let us again with confidence today and gratitude for the gift of Mary's mother just bring all of our needs and intentions, but particularly for those

intentions most near and dear to our hearts and those most necessary, the grace to persevere to follow the Lord today and necessary, the grace to persevere, to follow the Lord today and to receive the grace of final perseverance at the hour of our death. Let us pray. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, brothers and sisters, thank you again for joining me, praying with me. Today, I look forward to continuing the journey with you again tomorrow.

Poco a poco, friends. All right. God bless y'all.